Re: Heavy rains

You can tie the female bloom closed with twine or a twisty tie before it
opens. Most growers do that so they can control the source of pollen that
goes in. That would keep water out to a certain extent too. You could put up
a small piece of tarp (like 1sq ft) with some bamboo stakes over the flower,
especially after you pollinate. You can cut or tear small holes in the
corolla below the stigma or anther in both female and male flowers to help
them drain after a rain. I used to do that when I had my plants growing out
over the lawn where they would get sprinkled every morning. But only use
that method on female flowers if you don't care about stray pollen getting
in. How hot is it there? I've found once it gets hot enough (100+)  here
flowers wont pollinate even if the flowers are cooled.  However in the 80s
and 90s they will pollinate but only if I cool them by putting a small
styrofoam cooler upside down over the flower the night before opening with a
frozen water bottle inside for cooling. The styrofoam cooler method will
also keep the rain out but you only want to use it for a day or two because
you don't want to encourage rot.

On Sun, Jun 27, 2010 at 3:17 AM, Jeff Potter
<maple-leaf@kpe.biglobe.ne.jp>wrote:

> I live in southern Japan, and have been trying to grow pumpkins, ANY SIZE
> pumpkins, for several years, with no luck. I didn't really put much effort
> into it, just planted and waited, not really knowing what I was doing.
> I got the giant pumpkin bug when I received some seeds from the local
> champion, a 200 kger.I've done some studying, finally got a copy of Don
> Langevin's Giant Pumpkins II, did what I could with the soil in the spring,
> planted both in pots and directly, and have got some amazing, big,
> healthy-looking plants. I have a lot of male flowers, and several females
> not
> yet bloomed. I am out at 5:00am every morning just in case. In Don's book,
> he
> says I will know when the flower is ready to bloom, but I am not so sure.
> My
> problem is, we have a major rainy season here in Asia, it has rained
> heavily
> for 2 straight days, with a forecast for more, until Thursday. My question
> is,
> how can I protect my ladies, will the heavy rain have an effect on them
> even
> if they do not open, and if they do, can I pollinate them in the rain.
>
> Thanks, first time poster,
>
> Jeff
>
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